An existing image forming apparatus forms a test image for adjusting an image in order to detect whether there is a problem in image formation. The test image is regularly formed on the margin of a recording medium or on a new recording medium. When, for example, a line sensor reads the test image and detects an error in the test image, a maintenance or correction process is performed.
The more frequently a test image is formed as described above, the earlier an error in the image formation can be found. This can reduce the paper waste due to an error in the image formation. On the other hand, forming a test images too frequently reduces the productivity in forming normal images and increases the paper waste due to the test images when the test images are formed on new recording medium.
In light of the foregoing, a configuration in which the user such as a maintenance engineer can arbitrarily set the cycle of forming a test image is proposed (e.g., refer to Patent Literature 1).